Commonly, vehicles, such as work machines, agricultural tractors and combines, and the like, require substantial operational involvement and control by the operator. For example, in a combine, the operator is required to control the direction and speed of the combine while also controlling the height and other operating parameters of the header for harvesting the crops. Accordingly, to reduce the effort required by the operator, it is useful to automate as many tasks performed by the operator as possible.
One task which has been automated is the raising and lowering of the harvesting head or header of a combine. Typically, the header is raised when the combine approaches an already harvested headland of a field, and is lowered to an operating position when the combine has been turned or otherwise positioned for entering an unharvested region of the field. More specifically, some combines permit an operator to activate a switch momentarily for the purpose of causing the header to raise to a predetermined elevation without further interaction by the operator. Upon completion of a turn at the headlands and re-entry into the crop, the operator can activate another switch, typically referred to as a resume switch or button, which causes the header to return to its previous position for harvesting. Reference in this regard, Panoushek et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,694, issued Nov. 28, 1995 to Case Corporation. In the invention of that patent, movement of the header is controlled by a controller which permits the operator to momentarily toggle a resume switch to automatically raise the head, and momentarily toggle the switch to automatically lower the head, each at speeds proportional to the distance between the actual position of the head and the desired position. The resume switch is located on a propulsion handle movable for controlling movements of the combine. A multi-position switch movable for selecting from multiple header height settings, is located in a console adjacent to the propulsion handle. Other known systems provide multiple switches for selecting header height on top of the propulsion handle.
A problem found with locating the resume switch on the propulsion handle and the multi-position switch on the console is that the resume switch only returns the header to the position that the multi-position switch is currently set at. If a different position is desired, the operator must remove his or her hand from the propulsion handle to change the position of the console switch. A problem found with using multiple switches on the top of the propulsion handle is that it requires the operator to reposition his or her hand on the handle or remove the hand from the handle to actuate the switches.
Thus, what is sought is a control system for automatically moving a combine header, which provides improved operability and overcomes one or more problems set forth above.